Jesus founded Christianity, Muhammad
founded Islam.These are the two
largest religions in the world with about 1.8 billion and 1.1 billion members respectively.Without a doubt, these men have affected
humanity in a powerful way.As
religious leaders they laid down many principles to live by.

Both religions have much in common,
but differ strongly in other aspects.What were the founders' characters like?How do they compare with each other?What does the Bible and the Quran say about Jesus?What did their teachings and actions induce
their followers to do?This article
answers these questions by comparing and contrasting some of their actions and
teachings.

NOTE:I
will use the Bible, usually the New International Version (NIV)[1] as the
source for Jesus' words and actions.I
will quote from the Quran, usually N.J. Dawood's translation [2], and the
Hadiths of Bukhari [3] and Muslim [4], the "Life of Muhammad" [5],
which is a translation done by A. Guillaume of Ibn Ishaq's "Sirat
Rasulallah", the "History" of Tabari [6], and the Sunan of Abu
Dawud [7].Generally, the Hadiths of
Bukhari and Muslim are the sayings and deeds of Muhammad, and are recognized as
the most authentic by Islamic scholarship.Ibn Ishaq's "Sirat Rasulallah" is recognized as the best
extent biography of Muhammad, and Tabari's "History" is the best
historical account of Muhammad and the early Islamic community available.

JESUS:"Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing." Luke 23:34.(said while
dying on the cross at Calvary after being betrayed and sentenced to die for no
legitimate reason).

MUHAMMAD:
"May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship
at the graves of the prophets." Bukhari, Vol. 1, #427 [Muhammad had been poisoned
years earlier by a Jewish woman whose husband was killed by the Muslims and the poison
had slowly worked its effect. He said this while dying in the arms of his wife Aisha].

COMMENT

As I've studied both of these men's
lives, I find that the above comparison details some of the strongest character
differences.Here are their dying words,
words that will mark the end of their lives.Christ asks God to forgive His enemies, while Muhammad utters a bitter
curse against those who rejected his assertion of prophethood.Wouldn't it have been more appropriate for
Muhammad to ask Allah to guide the Christians and Jews while he was dying?

JESUS:had no slaves.Jesus taught to
do to others as you would have them do to you.Jesus had no slaves, and it is apparent from His teachings that He would
not have slaves.He freed men, not
enslaved them.No one wants to be
enslaved against their will.

Further,
Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:8-10,

"We know that the law is good
if one uses it properly.We also know
that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the
ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their
fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave
traders and liars and perjurers..."

From these verses, we see that
forcibly enslaving people, and trading in slaves, are against Christian
teachings.

MUHAMMAD:was a slaver.He owned and sold
many slaves, both male and female.He
said Allah allowed him and his Muslim followers to have sex with their female
slaves when the men wanted to.Reference the Quran, Sura (chapters) 33:50, 52, 23:5, and 70:30.Slaves are considered "booty" for
Muslims when taken in raids, thus they are Muslim's property.Muhammad felt proud and conceited enough to
enslave thousands of people.

The great Islamic historian Tabari
wrote regarding Muhammad's sexual intercourse with his slave Mariyah; "he
had intercourse with her by virtue of her being his property."[Tabari, Volume 39, page 194].

Muhammad made slaves out of the
people he raided and fought against.Most notable were the women and children survivors of Muhammad's
massacre of the 800 males (young teens and up) of the Jewish Banu Quraydhah,
Sura 33:26.The Sirat Rasulallah - the
earliest biography of Muhammad, gives much more detail on pages 461 and
on.Shortly after massacring the Jewish
males Ibn Ishaq wrote on page 466:

"Then the apostle divided the
property, wives, and children of the Banu Qurayza among the Muslims, and he
made known on that day the shares of horse and men, and took out the
fifth", (Muhammad and his family got one fifth of all the spoils of war).
. . Then the apostle sent Sa'd . . . with some of the captive women of Banu
Qurayza to Najd and he sold them for horses and weapons."

Muhammad also allowed slaves to be
harshly beaten.When his wife was being
examined as to whether or not she committed adultery, Muhammad's son in law,
Ali, brutally beat Aisha's slave in front of Muhammad, in order to insure that
she tell the truth about Aisha.Here is
the quote from Ibn Ishaq's "Sirat Rasulallah", translated as
"The Life of Muhammad", by A. Guillaume, (page 496):

"So the apostle called Burayra
(Aisha's slave) to ask her, and Ali got up and gave her a violent beating
saying, "Tell the apostle the truth,"....

Muhammad did not stop Ali from beating
the slave.

Muhammad also allowed newly captured
female slaves to be used for sex.From
the Hadith of Sahih Muslim vol. 2, #3371

Abu Sirma said to Abu Said al
Khudri:"O Abu Said, did you hear
Allah's messenger mentioning about al-azl (coitus interruptus)?"He said, "Yes", and added:"We went out with Allah's messenger on
the expedition to the Mustaliq and took captive some excellent Arab women; and
we desired them for we were suffering from the absence of our wives, (but at
the same time) we also desired ransom for them.So we decided to have sexual intercourse with them but by
observing azl" (withdrawing the male sexual organ before emission of semen
to avoid conception).But we said:"We are doing an act whereas Allah's
messenger is amongst us; why not ask him?"So we asked Allah's messenger and he said:"It does not matter if you do not do
it, for every soul that is to be born up to the Day of Resurrection will be
born".

And vol. 3,
#3432

Abu Said al-Khudri reported that at
the Battle of Hunain Allah's messenger sent an army to Autas and encountered
the enemy and fought with them.Having
overcome them and taken them captives, the Companions of Allah's messenger
seemed to refrain from having intercourse with captive women because of their
husbands being polytheists.Then Allah,
Most High, sent down regarding that:"And women already married, except those whom your right hands
possess (Quran - 4:24), (i.e. they were lawful for them when their Idda
(menstrual) period came to an end).

COMMENT

Jesus' teachings would preclude
people from forcibly enslaving people."Do to others as you would have them do to you" - Luke
6:31.On the other hand, Muhammad and his
soldiers went out and attacked many people and forced them into slavery.Worse yet, Muhammad separated slave families
by dividing them up between his soldiers and he allowed the men to rape the
female slaves.

MUHAMMAD:was declared to be a sinner - Sura 40:55 - "Therefore have
patience; God's promise is surely true.Implore forgiveness for your sins, and celebrate the praise of your Lord
evening and morning."

Sura 48:1,2
- "We gave you a glorious victory so that God may forgive you your past
and future sins ....."

Muhammad
also prayed for forgiveness of his sins, Bukhari volume 9, #482:

"...O Allah!Forgive me the sins that I did in the past
or will do in the future, and also the sins that I did in secret or in public.

Further, Muhammad even acknowledged
harming or cursing people unjustly.From Sahih Muslim, volume 4, "The Book of Virtue and Good Manners,
and Joining the Ties of Relationship, chapter MLXXV

"HE UPON WHOM ALLAH'S APOSTLE
INVOKED CURSES WHEREAS HE IN FACT DID NOT DESERVE IT, IT WOULD BE A SOURCE OF
REWARD AND MERCY FOR HIM".

Hadith #6287
- "Abu Juraira reported Allah's Messenger as saying, "O Allah, I am a
human being and for any person amongst Muslims upon whom I hurl malediction or
invoke curse or give him whipping make it a source of purity and mercy."

COMMENT

Jesus was a sinless man – the Son of
God.Muhammad was a self proclaimed
prophet – a man capable of sinning and making mistakes, having both good and
bad traits.At times he was kind, at
times he cursed and harmed many people.How much of their nature, or character, was inevitably translated into
their respective religion?Jesus was
pure and sinless, Muhammad stated that he prayed for forgiveness up to 70,000
times a day!Who would you rather
follow?

At dawn He (Jesus) appeared again in
the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to
teach them.The teachers of the law and
the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus,
"Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such
women.Now what do you say?"They were using this question as a trap in
order to have a basis to accuse Him.

But Jesus bent down and started to
write on the ground with His finger.When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them,
"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone
at her."Again he stooped down and
wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go
away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the
woman still standing there.Jesus
straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they?Has no one condemned you?""No one sir", she said."Then neither do I condemn you,"
Jesus declared."Go now and leave
your life of sin."

MUHAMMAD

From the
Hadith of Abu Dawud, #4428

"Buraidah said:"A woman of Ghamid came to the Prophet
and said:"I have committed
fornication", He said:"Go
back".She returned and on the
next day she came to him again, and said:"Perhaps you want to send me back as you did to Maiz b. Malik.I swear by Allah, I am pregnant."He said to her:"Go back".She
then returned and came to him the next day.He said to her:"Go back
until you give birth to the child."She then returned.When she gave
birth to the child she brought the child to him, and said:"Here it is!I have given birth to it."He said:"Go back, and
suckle him until you wean him."When she had weaned him, she brought him to him with something in his
hand which he was eating.The boy was
then given to a certain man of the Muslims and he (the prophet) commanded
regarding her.So a pit was dug for
her, and he gave orders about her and she was stoned to death.Khalid was one of those who were throwing
stones at her.He threw a stone at
her.When a drop of blood fell on his
cheek, he abused her.The prophet said
to him:"Gently, Khalid.By Him in Whose hand my soul is, she has
repented to such an extent that if one who wrongfully takes an extra tax were
to repent to a like extent, he would be forgiven".Then giving command regarding her, prayed
over her and she was buried.""

COMMENT

Here is a stark contrast between the
two men.When Jesus dealt with the
adulterous woman, He did not condemn her.He commanded her to go and sin no more.He gave her a chance for redemption – the very model of mercy.

How many people have started out
down the wrong street, but years later were able to turn their lives
around?Not only in that, but they have
been able to help others turn their lives around as well?Jesus offered this chance to the woman.Under the law, the Jews could have stoned
the woman to death, but Christ's love and compassion was much greater.

Muhammad’s approach was much
different.At first, he tried to
dismiss the adulterous woman.She
confessed her sin to him, but he refused to hear her and deal with it.Instead, he told her to go back.This occurred three times.Three times Muhammad ran from dealing with
the situation.Finally, after the
women's consistent confession, Muhammad was forced to confront her sin.He allowed her to give birth, suckle and
then wean the child, which could have taken 1 to 3 years.Then she returned and Muhammad had her
killed.

This woman not only confessed, but
she repented.She was a good mother to
her child and she was a responsible member of her community.Couldn't Muhammad have forgiven her as he
had so many other types of sinners?Muhammad allowed many others off for the sins they committed.Even people who had killed his family
members were forgiven if they confessed he was a prophet of God and there was
only one God.But Muhammad was unable to
deal compassionately with the woman.He
couldn't see beyond his nose.He
couldn't see that she had turned her life around, properly raised her child,
and was doing the right thing.Muhammad's shortsightedness caused her death.

Muhammad did not even deal with it
after Judaic law.In Moses' law, the
adulterer was to be stoned to death.Muhammad did not do so, he gave the woman several years to live.Even if you take into account the respite to
give birth to a child, Muhammad waited until the woman weaned the child.Surely there were other women who could have
nursed the child.Muhammad simply dealt
with the situation as best, (or not best) as he could; Muhammad made up his own
rules as he went along.

JESUS:In Luke 9:54, 55 Jesus rebuked His disciples when they wanted to destroy
a town that rejected Him.Also, in Luke
22:52, Jesus' disciples started to fight against those that came to arrest
Jesus, He stopped them, and healed a man injured in the fight.

MUHAMMAD:told his followers to aggressively make war on non-Muslims: 9:5,
29.Sura 9 was one of the last Suras
given by Muhammad.Initially, when
Muhammad's group was weak, he ordered his followers to try to get along with
other people.After the Muslims became
powerful, he ordered them to spread Islam by force.Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman continued his wars of aggression.A few of Muhammad’s actions include:

The massacre of approximately 800
Jewish male captives:(noted in Sura
33:26).

He ordered the execution of 10
people when he took Mecca.Three of
these people were slave girls who had previously made fun of Muhammad.Refer to "The Life of Muhammad",
pages 551 and 552.

He attacked the Jewish city of
Khaibar where he took one of the Jewish leaders and tortured him to force him
to tell where some buried money was.After the man refused to talk, and was near death, Muhammad ordered that
his head be cut off.Refer to "The
Life of Muhammad", page 515.

COMMENT

No one would envision Jesus ordering
the execution of slave girls for mocking him years earlier.He brought a better message and a better way
of life.No one would imagine Jesus
having a man tortured to reveal buried money.His life was free of greed.

Muhammad could be a very brutal
man.Does killing a few slave girls for
mocking him seem justified?.Is having
them killed for that justified? Does it seem rational or sensible?Does torturing a man just to get money
portray the type of man society should follow, obey, and emulate?

JESUS:was not married.He healed
women, forgave women, and encouraged women.The New Testament teaches that husbands should love their wives and not
be harsh with them:Col. 3:19, Eph.
5:25,that men and women are equal in
Christ - Gal 3:28, that they should be treated with respect - 1 Pet3:7.

MUHAMMAD:commanded his male followers to beat their disobedient wives.He gave men the right to beat their wives
who persistently disobeyed them.

Sura 4:34"As those you fear may be rebellious admonish, banish them
to their couches, and beat them."

The above verse was revealed in
connection with a woman who complained to Muhammad that her husband slapped her
on the face, which was still marked by the slap.At first Muhammad said to her "Get even with him", but
then added 'Wait until I think about it". Later on the above verse was
revealed, and Muhammad added, 'We (He and the woman) wanted one thing, Allah
wanted another.

The Hadith
also said much about women:

Muhammad said that women are generally
so evil, that they will make up the majority of people in to hell.Continuing with Bukhari,

Vol. 1,
#301:"O women!Give alms, as I have seen that the majority
of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women).They [women] asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Apostle?"He replied, "You curse frequently and
are ungrateful to your husbands."

Bukhari Vol.
1, #28:"The Prophet said, "I
was shown the Hell-fire and the majority of its dwellers were women who were
ungrateful."It was asked,
"Do they disbelieve in Allah?" (or are they ungrateful to Allah?), he
replied, "They are ungrateful to their husbands and are ungrateful for the
favors and the good done to them...."

Sahih Muslim
says they are the minority in Paradise:

Volume 4,
#6600:"Imran Husain reported that
Allah's messenger said:Amongst the
inmates of Paradise the women would form a minority."

By putting these two Hadith
together, we find that Muhammad said that women were the minority in Paradise,
and the majority in hell.Therefore it
is not a statistical ratio due to the possibility that there are more women
than men.Muhammad viewed women as more
sinful than men.And the reason more
women are in hell is because the women were ungrateful to their husbands!

Muhammad
also declared that women are less intelligent than men:

Bukhari,
Volume 1, #301:

"...Then he (Muhammad) passed
by the women and said, "O women, give alms as I have seen that the
majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)."they asked, "Why is it so O Allah's
messenger?"He replied, "You
curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands.I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and
religion than you.A cautious sensible
man could be led astray by some of you."The women asked, "O Allah's messenger, what is deficient in our
intelligence and religion?"He
said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one
man?"They replied in the
affirmative.He said, "This is the
deficiency in her intelligence....."

COMMENT

Christ's teachings show that women
and men are equal in God's sight."There is neither male nor female in Christ".Socially, Christ dealt with them according
to the Father's mercy.

Muhammad positioned females as in
between slave and free.Even today in
Islamic countries women are regulated to being second class and controlled by
the males.This is because of where
Muhammad placed them in his teachings.

[Jesus]
asked, "Who do you say that I am?"Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living
God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this
was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven."

Matthew 16:
15-17

JESUS
IS THE WORD OF GOD

"And
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."John 1:14

JESUS
AS GOD

"Christ
Jesus . . . who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal
with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of men . . ."Philippians 2:5-7

MUHAMMAD:said Jesus was not the Son of God - the Quran makes no distinction among
Prophets and Christ is no more than a Messenger:

Sura 5:75"Christ the son of Mary was no
more than a messenger: many were the messengers that passed away before him ..."

The Quran
denies Christ's divine origin:

Sura 43:59:"He was no more than a servant:we granted our favor to him, and we made him
an example to the children of Israel."

Sura 3:59:"The similitude of Jesus before
Allah is that of Adam:he created him from
dust, then said to him, "Be": and he was."

COMMENT

Christ, as a great prophet and
teacher, also taught that He was the Son of God, the Word of God, the Messiah,
and God incarnate.Muhammad denied
this.Either Jesus was telling the
truth, or he was a liar or lunatic.Both men could not be correct concerning Christ's identity.Remember, Muhammad came wandering out of the
desert, with "revelations" some 600 years later.He had little clue as to what he was talking
about.He frequently contradicted the
Bible that he asserted as the Word of God.

A man worshipped Jesus, and Jesus
permitted it, but Jesus taught that only God was to be worshipped in Matthew
4:10 -

Jesus said to him, "Away from
me Satan for it is written, "Worship the Lord your God and serve Him
only".

Yet Jesus allowed people to worship
him in Matthew 8:2 -

"And
behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him saying..."

The Bible
commands us to worship Jesus Christ:

"... all should honor the
Son, even as they honor the Father.He
that honors not the Son honors not the Father which sent him."John 5:23

"... let all the angels of
God worship him."Hebrews 1:6

"... at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things
under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father."Philippians 2:10, 11

MUHAMMAD:JESUS WAS NOT WORTHY OF WORSHIP

The Quran implies that Jesus is not worthy
of worship:

Sura 43:81:"Say: 'If the Most Gracious had a
son, I would be the first to worship him.'"

COMMENT

Only God has the right to be
worshipped as divine.Men have received
worship as rulers, but God commanded that He alone is to be worshipped.Jesus taught this, but He received
worship.Muhammad did not know who
Jesus was, and thus he denied worship to the Son of God.

JESUS:taught His disciples to pray simply, and from the heart.God listens to the heart, not the outward
form:

Matt:
6:5-13:"But when you pray, go
into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen.Then your Father, who sees what is done in
secret, will reward you.And when you
pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard
because of their many words..."

Jesus taught
that true prayer was an expression of relationship and communication with a
heavenly Father.

759 - if you
don't perform the bowing perfectly, your prayers are not accepted

These men were quite different. Both have
left their marks upon the world.Christians follow Christ, Muslims follow Muhammad.Both claimed to have been from God, but
their teachings and actions contradict each other.Only one could have truly been from God

Jesus said
that false prophets would come:Matthew
24:11 - "And many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive
many".Is it possible that
Muhammad falls into the false prophet category?